Ufasomes

As per available reports about 37 Relevant Journals, 32 Conferences, 13 Workshops are presently dedicated exclusively to ufasomes and about 159 articles are being published on ufasomes.

Unsaturated fatty acid vesicles (ufasomes) are the suspensions of closed lipid bilayers that are generated at specific pH. The formation of ufasomes is believed to occur due to associative interaction in mixtures of fully ionized and unionized fatty acids at pH>7.0. In ufasomes, fatty acid molecules are oriented in such a way that their hydrocarbon tails are directed toward the membrane interior and the carboxyl groups are in contact with water. Oleic and linoleic acids were used mostly. In biological membranes, the arrangement of lipid molecules exhibits dual role, that is, structural and functional: structural part as they provide matrix for membrane proteins and a functional one, in which they act as a barrier to the free flow of solutes. Stability of ufasomes depends on proper selection of fatty acid, amount of cholesterol, buffer, pH range, amount of lipoxygenase, and the presence of divalent cations.

Recent innovations can provide opportunity to formulate ufasomes with tailorable features such as extension of pH range, insensitivity toward divalent cations, and enhancement of stability. But, ufasomes have a less regular structure than conventional liposomes. Ufasomes have potential as carriers for the oral administration of poorly absorbable drugs as well as for the horizontal transfer of genes from plants.

Ufasomes are used to improve the new drug molecules by encapsulating an active medicament inside vesicular structure in one such system. It prolongs the existence of the drug in systemic circulation and finally reduces the toxicity. Such different systems are widely used in gene delivery, tumor targeting to brain, oral formulations, in stability and permeability problems of drugs. In this review we really focused on different aspects of vesicular system in terms of its advantages, limitation, applications and different marketed product of vesicular system as novel drug delivery.

Fatty acid vesicles are colloidal suspensions of closed lipid bilayers that are composed of fatty acids and their ionized species (soap). They are observed in a small region within the fatty acid-soap-water ternary phase diagram above the chain melting temperature (Tm) of the corresponding fatty acid-soap mixture. Fatty acid vesicles always contain two types of amphiphiles, the nonionized neutral form and the ionized form (the negatively charged soap). The ratio of nonionized neutral form and the ionized form is critical for the vesicle stability. Fatty acid vesicles are actually mixed "fatty acid/soap vesicles," but for the sake of simplicity, we just call them fatty acid vesicles.

The formation of fatty acid vesicles was first reported by Gebicki and Hicks in 1973 and the vesicles formed were initially named "ufasomes," "unsaturated fatty acid liposomes." Later investigations have shown that fatty acid vesicles form not only from unsaturated fatty acids such as oleic acid, linoleic acid, but also from saturated fatty acid such as octanoic acid and decanoic acid. In liposome formulation, phospholipids are generally used. However, even natural phospholipids are chemically heterogeneous, and pure synthetic phospholipids are not yet available in reasonable quantities. The advantage of ufasomes over liposomes is the ready availability of fatty acids.

Market Analysis:

The global market for ufasomes was valued at $243.7 million in 2013 and is expected to increase to $305.3 million in 2014, and further to $2.7 billion by 2019, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 54.8% over the five-year period from 2014 through 2019. An overview of the global market for ufasomes and related technologies. Analysis of global market trends, with data from 2013, estimates for 2014, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2019.